The body of a 54-year-old Joseph M. Schafer of Rosendale, was recovered from a house Friday evening. / Aileen Andrews / The Reporter Media

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The Reporter Media Staff

Firefighters back off from a home on fire in Rosendale. Fear of explosives, which were determined to be fireworks, forced them to fight the fire from a distance. Friday, April 5. / Patrick Flood / The Reporter Media

The body of a 54-year-old Joseph M. Schaefer of Rosendale, was recovered from a house Friday evening. / Aileen Andrews / The Reporter Media

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VILLAGE OF ROSENDALE — A fire that destroyed a home in the heart of Rosendale was a pre-planned event by the victim, according to an ongoing investigation by the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office and State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Fond du Lac County 911 Center responded to a request for a welfare check at 3:17 p.m. Friday, as well as information received of possible smoke and someone inside the residence. Authorities later discovered the body of Joseph M. Shafer, 54, of Rosendale inside the badly burned home.

Upon arriving, deputies noticed windows covered in black soot, a gas container outside the residence and a strong smell of gasoline coming from inside the residence. A cord running from the residence to the garage was later determined to be fireworks, but deputies evacuated the area around the residence and set up a tactical perimeter around the home as a precaution to protect residents and firefighters as they worked on the fire.

State Highway 26 was closed and traffic was detoured during the incident.

The Rosendale Police Department and Wisconsin State Patrol assisted at the scene, while fire departments from Rosendale, Eldorado, Ripon Rural, and Lamartine responded to the call. Ripon EMS and Rosendale First Responders were on site assisting, according to Rick Olig, Captain of Operations of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department.